Grew up in Clearwater, Florida. Educated USCGA; West Florida. US Coast Guard officer.

Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:BRUCE E. MELNICK NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)

PERSONAL DATA: Born in 1949. He resides in Inglis, Florida.

EDUCATION: Melnick received a master’s degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida and a bachelor’s degree in engineering with honors from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of science degree from the University of West Florida on 28 April 2001.

EXPERIENCE: During his 20-year career with the U.S. Coast Guard, Melnick’s assignments included serving as operations officer and chief test pilot at the Coast Guard Aircraft Program Office in Grand Prairie, Texas. In that capacity, he conducted most of the developmental and all of the acceptance test flights for the HH-65 helicopter, including sea trials, and wrote the HH-65 flight manual. During his Coast Guard service, Melnick received numerous awards, including two Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medals, two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Secretary of Transportation Heroism Award. In 1992, he received the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Distinguished Alumni Award. He logged over 5,000 hours flying time, predominantly in the H-3, H-52, H-65, and T-38 aircraft.

Selected by NASA in June 1987, Melnick became an astronaut in August 1988, qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. Subsequent technical assignments included: Astronaut Support Personnel (ASP) team at the Kennedy Space Center assigned to prepare Shuttle Orbiter cockpits and middecks prior to each flight; represented the Astronaut Office in the assembly and checkout of the new Space Shuttle Orbiter "Endeavour" (OV-105) at the contractor facilities in California; served as head of the flight software verification team in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). During the five years he served in NASA’s astronaut corps, Melnick flew as a mission specialist on the Shuttle Discovery STS-41 (October 6-10, 1990) when the Ulysses spacecraft was deployed. He served as a flight engineer on STS-49 (May 7-16, 1992), which was the first flight of the Shuttle Endeavour. During that mission, astronauts rescued and repaired the Intelsat VI satellite. He has logged more than 300 hours in space.

Commander Melnick retired from the U.S. Coast Guard and left NASA in July 1992.

Subsequent to his Coast Guard and NASA careers, Melnick was the Vice President for Boeing Florida Operations at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Melnick’s organization, a part of the Boeing Integrated Defense Systems group, provided a variety of support services to Boeing programs in the state. Headquartered in Titusville, the organization has approximately 2,400 employees. Services provided by Boeing in Florida include engineering, facilities and maintenance support to NASA and the Department of Defense for Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Delta rocket programs. Melnick was also responsible for the pursuit of new business for the company in Florida.

Previously Melnick was the Boeing Company Vice President at KSC for the NASA’s Payload Ground Operations Contract, with 1,600 employees. The contract included all the engineering and facilities support and maintenance activities related to preparing spacecraft and/or payloads for the Space Shuttle missions prior to launch and after landing. The division also provided support to NASA and its contractors for the International Space Station hardware.

Prior to joining Boeing (McDonnell Douglas at the time), Melnick was Vice President/Director for Shuttle Engineering at United Space Alliance, formerly Lockheed Martin Space Operations, from 1994 to 1996. From 1992 to 1994, he was Director of Process Improvement Technology at Lockheed Space Operations Company.

JULY 2010

This is the only version available through NASA. Updates must be sought direct from the above named individual.

Official NASA Biography

NAME: Bruce E. Melnick (Commander, USCG)

NASA Astronaut

BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Born December 5, 1949, in New York, New York, but considers Clearwater, Florida, to be his hometown. His father, Mr. Edward S. Melnick, resides in Ft. White, Florida. His mother, Mrs. Rita M. Melnick, is deceased.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Clearwater High School, Clearwater, Florida, in 1967; attended Georgia Tech in 1967-68; received a bachelor of science degree in Engineering (with honors) from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1972, and a master of science degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1975.

MARITAL STATUS: Married to the former Kaye Aughtman of Andulusia, Alabama. Her parents, Mr. & Mrs. LeRoy Parker, reside in Springville, Alabama.

EXPERIENCE: Upon graduation from the Coast Guard Academy, Melnick was assigned as a deck watch officer aboard the USCG Cutter STEADFAST, homeported in St. Petersburg, Florida. After 16 months sea duty, he was sent to Navy flight training in Pensacola and participated in the CNTRA's Masters Program. After earning his wings in 1974, and his degree in 1975, he served two 3-1/2 year tours as a Coast Guard Rescue Pilot at CGAS Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and at Sitka, Alaska. He was then assigned to the Aircraft Program Office in Grand Prairie, Texas, where he conducted many of the developmental and acceptance tests on the Coast Guard's HH-65A "Dolphin" helicopter. In 1986 he was transferred to CGAS Traverse City, Michigan, where he served as the Operations Officer until his selection to the astronaut program.

He has logged over 4,900 hours flying time, predominantly in the H-3, H-52, H-65 and T-38 aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in June 1987, Melnick became an astronaut in August 1988, qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. His technical assignments to date include serving on the Astronaut Support Personnel (ASP) team at the Kennedy Space Center assigned to prepare Shuttle Orbiter cockpits and middecks prior to each flight. He represented the Astronaut Office in the assembly and checkout of the new Space Shuttle Orbiter (OV-105) at the contractor facilities in California, and was the head of the flight software verification team in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). A veteran of two space flights, Melnick flew on STS-41 in 1990, and STS-49 in 1992. He has logged over 300 hours of space flight.

Melnick first flew on STS-41. The five man crew launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on October 6 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 10, 1990. During 66 orbits of the earth the STS-41 crew successfully deployed the ULYSSES spacecraft, starting this interplanetary probe on its four year journey, via Jupiter, to investigate the polar regions of the Sun; operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument (SSBUV) to map atmospheric ozone levels; activated a controlled "fire in space" experiment (the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE); and conducted numerous other middeck experiments involving radiation measurements, polymer membrane production and microgravity effects on plants. Mission duration was 98 hours 10 minutes 04 seconds.

More recently, Melnick served on the crew of STS-49, May 7-16, 1992, aboard the maiden flight of the new Space Shuttle Endeavour. During 141 orbits of the Earth, the STS-49 crew rendezvoused with, captured, attached a new rocket motor to, and deployed the Intelsat VI communications satellite, and conducted the Assembly of Station by EVA methods (ASEM) evaluation. The mission included the most EVAs (4) during a Shuttle flight, the first ever 3 person EVA, and the two longest EVAs in Shuttle history. Melnick performed the duties of flight Engineer (MS-2) and was the principal Remote Manipulator System (RMS) operator throughout the mission.

Commander Melnick is retiring from the U.S. Coastguard and will leave NASA in July 1992. He has accepted the position of Director, Shuttle Processing Improvement Technology with Lockheed Space Operations Company (LOC) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. First selection after the Challenger accident. 1962 applicants, 117 finalists. Reported to Johnson Space Center on August 17, 1987, to begin their one year training. Seven pilots and eight mission specialists. Two female mission specialists, including the first black woman astronaut. Ten military officers and five civilians (including three from NASA Johnson and one from NASA Marshall).